Q+A: What are the main security concerns for G20 in Seoul?

By Jeremy Laurence

SEOUL | Tue Nov 2, 2010 11:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - South Korean authorities have ramped up security for next week's G20 summit with 10,000 participants, including 32 heads of government and leaders of international organizations, expected in Seoul.

Security forces have been put on high alert, anti-aircraft missiles are at the ready, shipping and air routes are under heightened surveillance and airport screening increased.

The following is a look at the threats and security measures in place for the November 11-12 summit.

WILL THERE BE DEMONSTRATIONS, AND DOES THAT MEAN TROUBLE?

Yes, and there probably will be some violence.

Multilateral events involving developed economies, including G7/G8 summits and IMF meetings, traditionally attract hardcore anti-capitalist protesters. Often the protests have turned violent. Police and soldiers have used water canon, teargas and armored vehicles to control protests.

In one of the worst instances of rioting, a G8 summit in Genoa was marred by the death of protester shot by police in 2001. About 200,000 people took to the streets of the Italian city and the rioting caused millions of dollars of damage.

South Korean police say they are screening for international troublemakers at entry points but expect a few hundred hardcore activists to infiltrate protests and stoke trouble. More than 200 foreigners, most of them protesters arrested during last year's Pittsburgh summit, have been blocked from entering the country.

A number of South Korean protests have also been planned, and going by past demonstrations by rural activists and unionists, violence can be expected. In the past, demonstrators armed with metal rods and bamboo sticks have smashed police buses, vehicles have been upturned and torched, and shops vandalized. There have been instances of protesters publicly committing suicide.

WHAT OTHER SORTS OF TROUBLE ARE ORGANISERS WORRIED ABOUT?

President Lee Myung-bak said on Wednesday the government's main security worry was North Korea and or an act of terrorism. He said authorities were thoroughly prepared.

South Korea is still technically at war with its rival North Korea, having only signed an armistice to end the 1950-53 Korean War. Given that it is on a war footing, missiles, aircraft and troops are at the ready. The heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone is only about 100 km (60 miles) north of the capital.

The Defense Ministry is preparing for eight possible types of provocative acts by North Korea, including intrusions south of the Northern Limit Line, the disputed maritime border in the West Sea. The coastguard will defend the Han River in Seoul and the air force will be on the lookout for aircraft that may try to intrude into airspace over the summit.

The South's police chief has said the military would be prepared to use anti-aircraft missiles in the capital should any invasion of airspace occur.

The South's armed forces will be assisted by a wide range of U.S. reconnaissance assets. Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea.

The United States has asked China to use its influence over North Koreato pressure it not to be provocative during the summit. Among the worst acts of violence blamed on the North are the bombing of a Korean Air flight in 1987, a 1983 bomb attack in Myanmar that killed South Korean officials and journalists, and a thwarted attack on the presidential Blue House in 1968.

In recent years, the North's has sunk a South Korean warship as well as tested nuclear devices and missiles.

WHAT ARE THE INCREASED SECURITY MEASURES?

South Korea's armed forces are on a "Level 3" alert, the highest level. About 50,000 police -- more than one-third of the national force -- will provide security, among them about 20,000 riot police. A special law has been enacted to give police greater authority to thwart demonstrations and deploy troops. Armored vehicles have been mobilized at major airports.

Three days before the summit, police will erect a 2.2-meter (7 foot) fence at the venue to keep out demonstrators.

Private lockers at subway stations in Seoul will be closed to prevent storage of items that could be used in attacks and rubbish bins will be replaced with transparent ones.

Seoul residents have been asked to avoid using their cars, more buses and trains will put into service, and city workers have been told to report to work an hour later than normal.

South Korean officials say they have ample experience in holding such an event, noting the successful 2002 World Cup and the 2005 APEC summit.

(Sources: Yonhap news agency, South Korea police, G20 organizers)

(Editing by Robert Birsel)